Here are my thoughts on all the selected tracks:
Demon Hunter - "My Place in the Dirt" from There Was a Light Here (2025)
5/5. The opening march gets you ready for the action, blasting off into what may be the closest to the band's melodic metalcore roots (one of the only tracks in the new Demon Hunter album to qualify for The Revolution) complete with rapid blasts and vocalist Ryan Clark's growls of yester-decade.
Lamb of God - "Parasocial Christ" from Parasocial Christ (2025)
4.5/5. Lamb of God still have their identity while taking on more of the beatdown metalcore of Kublai Khan, along with Randy Blythe's vocals getting deeper and meaner. The bridge and guitar soloing throughout the 3rd quarter is a killer throwback to their 2000s era. Soloing is uncommon for this band, but Mark Morton never misses his mark.
Dreamwake - "Daydream" from The Lost Years (2025)
4/5. Dreamwake has a recognizably unique sound in the guitars, bass, and drums, along with the synths and saxophone to make what's basically synthwave metal.
Deadtide - "The Battle for New Earth" from The Battle for New Earth (2025)
4.5/5. I'd like to thank Mike Metal for sharing his band Deadtide here in this site. This track is such a powerful banger! Everything sounds both real and unreal.
Volumes - "Man on Fire" from Happier? (2021)
5/5. After that Spiritbox-esque intro, we have some brutal verses with vocals by Michael Barr and Myke Terry, with the latter hitting some searing highs. This album Happier would also have some, well, happier moments in other songs. Still this is probably the best of this album! I love the f***ing killer riffing at over the one-minute mark, and the mind-f***ing breakdown over another minute later. The lyrics seem to protest against racism and violence. Another wicked banger of a song!
Zao - "Conflict" from Preface: Early Recordings 1995-1996 (2020)
4.5/5. Ah, some old-school Zao. This is from when Eric Reeder was still with the band.
Varials - "Day 3: Revenge" from Scars for You to Remember (2022)
5/5. Another hard-hitting headbanger, featuring different vocalists including Matt Honeycutt of Kublai Khan. HOLY SH*T, it's an unexpected collab that pays off! What makes this a killer standout is the chorus, as well as the final breakdown throughout the last 30 seconds. The most serious metalcore listener would have a Joker-like smile.
Enter Shikari - "Enter Shikari (demo)" from The Zone (2007)
4.5/5. SH*T!!!! The demo version of the band's theme song has knocked me off my feet! Rou Reynolds' vocals sound rawer in this one.
Ice Nine Kills - "Bloodbath & Beyond" from Every Trick in the Book (2015)
5/5. The band puts a unique twist into the story that this song is based on; Dracula is a young brooding vampire similar to Edward from Twilight though slightly younger and the girl's "boyfriend". The superb drumming travels through the great choruses and ravaging near-end breakdown.
Skycamefalling - "Porcelain Heart Promises" from 10.21 (2000)
5/5. This highlight covers pretty much everything you need to hear from this band. Another recommendation!
Shadow of Intent - "The Cosmic Inquisitor" from Primordial (2016)
4.5/5. This one has some pieces of the tech-death/thrash of Revocation, from the heavy intro riffing to the sweeping guitar soloing. Brutal guest vocals are done by Dan Watson, former vocalist of Infant Annihilator and Enterprise Earth.
Mental Cruelty, Signs of the Swarm - "Helheim" from Helheim (2025)
5/5. Epic blackened viking deathcore?!?!? F*** YEAH!!!! And I would love to hear more of that other band Signs of the Swarm!
Lorna Shore - "Soulless Existence" from Pain Remains (2022)
5/5. The breakdowns in this massive standout have the same greatness as the previous track, invited in by the Lord of the Rings-like epicness and emotion.
Asking Alexandria - "To the Stage" from Reckless & Relentless (2011)
4.5/5. Another sweet gem, and I miss this kind of sound from the band. No wonder I didn't last long listening to this band after their move away from their earlier metalcore.
Equilibrium - "Nexus" from Equinox (2025)
5/5. The pure blackened viking metal of their earlier material is gone. Say hello to their exciting new modern folk-core, similar to Ithilien!
As Blood Runs Black - "Ground Zero" from Ground Zero (2014)
5/5. A true melodic deathcore anthem, complete with chanting from members of bands Volumes and Thy Art is Murder.
Blessthefall - "Standing on the Ashes" from Hollow Bodies (2013)
4.5/5. One of the most underrated songs by this band. The catchy clean chorus is in great contrast with the brutal screamed verses.
As I Lay Dying - "If I Fall" from If I Fall (2025)
5/5. I wasn't sure if I could see this as a perfect song because how rock-bottom Tim Lambesis has gone. But f*** it, this is the best embodiment of the band's sound with the new lineup that hopefully won't implode so soon.
Elwood Stray, Our Mirage - "Error" from Error (2025)
4.5/5. Some f***ing powerful Linkin Park energy at around the one-minute mark to end the first verse. Probably some Architects vibes too with that BLEGH another minute later. And the catchy final chorus brings more balance to this banger. This might also remind some of Stick to Your Guns and Our Promise. Bands like Elwood Stray and Our Mirage can do amazing work to please the metalcore masses, including collabs like this. The vocals also remind me of Tyler Smith. Maybe a collab with Resolve would also be good. Oh, and if you're wondering when Our Mirage vocalist Timo Bonner shows up, it's during said final chorus. Quite late, but better late than never!
Landmvrks, Novelists - "Heretic" from Deja Vu (2022)
4/5. Another underrated collab! If they brought in Resolve as well, that would be the French modern metalcore trio right there.
Stray From the Path - "Fuck Them All to Hell" from Clockworked (2025)
4.5/5. For the band's final album, they're really going out in a f***ing bang, with some of the heavy chaos of Car Bomb and Suicide Silence. That brutal final breakdown throughout the final 30 seconds really pleases my ears. F*** THEM ALL TO HELL!!!
Lionheart - "Salt the Earth" from Valley of Death II (2025)
4/5. Nice, heavy, and f***ing sick. Look out for more, metalcore fans!
Me and Him Call It Us - "A Rotten Set of Bagpipes Can Make a Fantastic Miniskirt If Sewn Properly" from The (C:) Drive of Love Stories (2004)
4.5/5. Chaotic ambient mathcore, and there's more of that in the next track...
Paria - "Misanthropos" from Misanthropos (2004)
5/5. Experimental grind-mathcore can make a fantastic highlight is performed properly, and indeed it does!
Coalesce - "My Love for Extremes" from Functioning on Impatience (1998)
4.5/5. Heavily suitable for my love for extreme mathcore. Will they continue the extremeness that I love if they ever make a new album?
Ion Dissonance - "She's Strychnine" from Solace (2005)
5/5. You want an absolutely crushing mathcore breakdown? Go to the one that starts the second third of the song. Everything's f***ing wrecked apart and rebuilt!
Emmure - "When Keeping It Real Goes Wrong" from Goodbye to the Gallows (2007)
4.5/5. However, the breakdown in this song is even more brutal. In the last minute, after some distorted chaos similar to Ion Dissonance, then comes the funny yet heavy ending, "Won't you be my bride? (ANOTHER DAY ANOTHER DAY ANOTHER DAY ANOTHER DAY)".
The Acacia Strain - "Eucharist II: BLOOD LOSS" from You Are Safe From God Here (2025)
5/5. All right, fun's over. Now we're getting into one of the most f***ing darkest 14-minute epics you'll ever hear. This is more than just downtempo deathcore/metalcore, it's apocalyptic ambient funeral doomcore! So unlike their earlier faster material from 20 years ago. You can mosh out to this for one moment, then mourn a fallen loved one the next. Vincent Bennett's vocals are some of the most wide-ranged ever here! And this is after 11 tracks that are each under 3 minutes long. We have a beautiful soft bridge at the 6-minute mark, and even softer a couple minutes later, with clean singing by Blackwater Holylight vocalist Sunny Faris (not as sunny as she sounds), before the brutality rises back up. A couple minutes later, a sad yet heavy riff keeps repeating itself, getting more melancholic after a couple minutes before eventually fading out.
Of Mice & Men - "Infinite" from Another Miracle (2025)
5/5. Then we have this short yet epic finale that has Of Mice & Men's usual modern sound leading up to the final chorus' grand climax.
Pretty good playlist I've made, huh? I recommend this to any metalcore fan and anyone who isn't into metalcore but is up to getting into a great start for the genre. Thanks to anyone who have contributed with their own submissions, and I hope the rest of you enjoy it like I've had!
